F 



1704 




1904 



AN HISTORICAL SERMON 

IN CONNECTION WITH 

ST. BARNABAS CHURCH, 

(also known as "Brick Church,") 

QUEEN ANNE'S PARISH, 

AT LEELAND, PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, 

MARYLAND. 



DELIVERED BY 

THE REV. WILLIAM C. BUTLER, 

A FORMER RECTOR, 

AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE TWO HUNDREDTH 

ANNIVERSARY OF THE PARISH, ON TUESDAY 

MORNING, JUNE ELEVENTH, 1907. 



Being 

A Reprint, with Additions, of a Sermon entitled "An Historical 

Sermon in connection with St. Barnabas Church, Queen 

Anne's Parish, Prince George's County, Maryland, 

BY THE Rector, the Rev. William C. Butler. 

Second Sunday After Trinity, 1878. 

Baltimore, 1878." 



WASHINGTON. D. C: 

R. Beresford, Printer. 618 F Street, N. W. 

1907. 




l>Ki;SKNTi;i) liY 



Yen/. 3o. /^cy^ 





■^\ 




I704 I '9°4 



AN HISTORICAL SERMON 

IN CONNECTION WITH 

ST. BARNABAS CHURCH, 

(also known as "Brick Church,") 

QUEEN ANNE'S PARISH, 

AT LEELAND, PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, 

MARYLAND. 



DELIVERED BY 

THE REV. WILLIAM C. BUTLER, 

A FORMER RECTOR, 

AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE TWO HUNDREDTH 

ANNIVERSARY OF THE PARISH, ON TUESDAY 

MORNING, JUNE ELEVENTH, 1907. 



Being 

A REPRINT WITH Additions, of a Sermon entitled "An Historical 

Sermon in connection with St. Barnabas Church, Queen 

Anne's Parish, Prince George's County, Maryland, 

BY THE Rector, the Rev. William C. Butler. 

Second Sunday After Trinity, 1878. 

Baltimore, 1878." 



■^as^ingVon. D.^.: 
1907. 






The following Historical Sermon is printed at the request of the many 
friends of the REV. Wiluam C. BuTler, with notes by Mrs. Butler and 
the present Rector, Rev. Wm. J. Wii^uams. 

Edited and published by Leroy S. Boyd, Esq., Washington, D. C. 

Washington, D. C. 

November 2S, igoj. 






ST. BARNABAS. 

PARISH CHURCH OF QUEEN ANNE'S PARISH. 

An Historical Sermon, in Connection with St. Barnabas 

Church, Queen Anne's Parish, Prince George's 

County, Maryland, by the Rev. William 

C. Butler, on June iith, 1907. 

SERMON : 

''Look unto the rock whence ye are hew7i, and to the hole of the pit 
whence ye are digged.'' — Isaiah, li : i. 

The civilized peoples of the world have never before been re- 
sponding, more intently than now, to the call of these words, 
''Look unto the rock zchence ye are hewn." Where lie the roots 
of your life ? 

The thoroughbreds of the past have made the thoroughbreds 
of today ; and the thoroughbreds of this day will make the thor- 
oughbreds of the future. This is the lesson that the world is 
learning, and most emphatically announcing. Hence, the James- 
town Ter-Centenary which is proclaiming the advent, on the 
shores of the James River in Virginia, of the men who brought 
to this land an Open Bible, the Church of the Living God with 
its Ministry and its Sacraments, and the Civil Liberty of Magna 
Charta of Old England. 

And so we of today, in this two hundred year old, your old 
Church of St. Barnabas, Queen Anne's Parish, Prince George's 
County, Maryland, are celebrating our Bi-Centennial. Let us, 
then, " Look to the rock whence ye are hezvn, and to the hole of the 
pit whence ye are digged. ' ' 

Over two hundred years ago, that is to say, in the Year of Our 
Lord 1692, the then ten counties of the Province of Maryland 
were divided, for the more convenient administration of Church 
matters, into thirty-one Parishes, of which "St. Paul's" was one, 
stretching from the southernmost line of what is now Prince 
George's County to wliat is now the northern boundary of " Holy 
Trinity" Parish. 



4 ST. BARNABAS CHURCH. 

Twelve years later, /. <r. , on December 9th, 1704, being the 
second year of the reign of Queen Anne, " St. Paul's" Parish was 
divided by the Provincial Assembly, and the northern portion 
was constituted a separate Parish with the designation of " Queen 
Anne's Parish," the Parish Church thereof being called "St. 
Barnabas," our Parish Church of today. 

The old Parish Record, out of which the material here pre- 
sented has been extracted, is rapidly falling into decay ; its time- 
stained pages, especially the earlier portions, fading into oblivion ; 
and its crumbling leaves, the original leathern binding all gone 
excepting a few narrow shreds, reminding us that unless some 
such effort as this be made to snatch its leading facts from the 
closing grave of the past, the burial of those facts must be the 
next step in the process of time. 

I am the more impelled to make this eflFort, because the minds 
and the hearts in which these facts have been treasured, your 
fathers and mothers, men and brethren, and far remoter ancestry, 
men and women who link us of today with a venerable and hon- 
ored history, have almost all "fallen asleep." And, we, their 
children, plunged now into a new order of things, struggling for 
very life, the seething tide dashing fragments of all wrecks against 
us from every quarter — whatever else we lose, cannot afford to 
lose, for ourselves and for those who come after us, one particle 
of the stay and inspiration that comes from the priceless, change- 
less heritage of truth and fact and life, which the Church hands 
down to each generation of her children for jealous and loving 
transmittal. 

The first item of special interest to us in the Parish Record is 
a copy of the " Act for dividing St. Paul's Parish," as follows : 

" WHEREAS The Parishioners of St. Pauls Parish in Prince 
Geo: County [have] shewn to this Generall Assembly that Their 

Parish being more in length [than ] miles (the number is 

effaced by a stain, the distance being about 40 or 50 miles) & 
uncapable of being supplyed by one Minister, and yt. ye Great 
nu[mberof in] habitants will afford a Comfortable maintenance 
for two Ministers — [and there] fore supplicated that ye sd. Parish 
may be Divided into two Parishes. 

"Be it Therefore luiacted by ye Queens Most Excellent 
[Majestic], by & wth ye advice & consent of her Maj'ties Govr., 
Council ^1 assembly of th[ — ] and ye authority of ye same That 



ST. r.ARNAHAS CHURCH. 5 

ye sd. Parish be divided & is and shall forever be Divided & the 
Divisional Lines begins & shall be adjudged & taken [to begin] 
with the Dividing branches of Potoxon Riv^er &: to Run wth the 
Western [Branch]* to a branch Called ye Cabbin Branch by ye 
Plantation of a Certain lCd\v[ard WMllett],* and so wth ye Cab- 
bin Branch to the Head thereof. And the Southern [most Part]* 
To be adjudged to be St. Pauls Parish. 

"And Be it further Enacted by ye Authority advice ^: [ ] 

aforesd. that ye sd St. Pauls Parish be further bounded & di- 
vided by ye R[idge] Between Potoxon ^ Potomack 6c ye East- 
ern side of ye .sd. Ridge <S: ye Northernm [ost Part]* of ye 
Western branch & Cabbing Branch be adjudged to be a new (Sc 
distinct [Pari.sh]* to be called by ye name of Queen Ann Parish 
& may Elect & Choose proper [Officers]* and have «& enjoy all 
ye advantages privilidges 6t benefits of a compleat [and]* Intire 
Parish any former Act Law Division or ordinance to ye Contrary 
[not] withstanding. ' ' 

In pursuance of this Act, and immediately following it on the 
Record, this memorandum is noted : 

" That this ninth day of April, 1705, pursuant to the Act of 
Assembly for the division of St. Paul's Parish in Prince George's, 
the inhabitants of Oueen Anne Parish being assembled at St. 
Barnabas, their Parish Church, according to the laws of this 
Province in their behalf made and provided, have unanimously 
elected and chosen the persons undernamed to be and act as a 
Vestry for said Parish : Mr. Robt. Tyler ; Mr. Tho. Odell ; Mr. 
Phill. Gittings ; Mr. Henry Ridgley ; Mr. Jon. Pottinger : Mr. 
Jon. Gerrard. 

"Also the \'estry makes choice of William Lee to be the 
Clerke for this ensuing year. 

" Also the Parishioners make choice of James Mulliken and 
John Mills for Church Wardens of St. Barnabas Church for the 
ensuing year." 

On the 2 1 St day of the same month and year, April, 1705, the 
new Vestry of the new Parish, together with the Clerk and War- 
dens, subscribed the tests and oaths of office appointed by law. 

* Supplied from Bacon's Laws of Maryland, Acts of 1704. Chapter 96, 
which contains only a brief abstract of the Act. An unsuccessful effort was 
made to secure a copy in full from the Court of Appeals at Annapolis, where 
these Acts are preserved. 



6 ST. BARNABAS CHURCH. 

At this first meeting of the Vestry as an organized body, sun- 
dry points of special interest are presented to our view. 

John Houching petitioned to take charge of the Church in the 
capacity of Sexton. His petition was granted, and the Record 
reads, " We doe allow him for his trouble a hogshead of Tobacco 
of five hundred pounds nete." 

The same day, agreement was made with Peter West, carpenter, 
to build a Vestry House, the material and details specified — for 
which he is to have "three thousand pounds of Tobacco at ye 
fall." This Vestry House stood in the rear of the Church which 
was then within what was recently the Rectory Yard, south of the 
present St. Barnabas.* And, after standing there for a century 
and a half, the Vestry House was occupied as a dwelling by the 
good Sexton, James Mitchell, who fulfilled that duty for nearly 
fifty years, dying at his post in 1879 — an unusual instance of 
long service and fidelity in these days of unrest and change. t 

At this same first meeting of the Vestr}^, April 21st, 1705, 
" came John Duvall and Mary his wife," blessed be they of the 
Lord, who will not forget their labor that proceeded of love in 
thus ministering to the Saints, and herein yet do minister. This 
faithful man and his wife Mary established and confirmed the 
two acres of land (whereon we still worship), " to be her Majes- 
tic' s Queen Anne, her heirs and successors, for the use of the 
Parish for a Church and Church Yard, forever." 

*Tlie Rectory referred to here in the Church yard was destroyed by fire 
in May, 1880. The location of the new Rectory was changed, and the Rev. 
Mr. Butler built it about five hundred feet west of the Church, on a beauti- 
ful elevated spot on eight acres of ground which was partly bought and 
given for the use of the Rector. This house was also burnt, on Dec. 9, 1S88, 
in which valuable papers and records of the Church were lost. Mr. Butler 
lost all of his large library, which was considered one of the finest country 
libraries in the State. The only thing saved from the burning building was 
the old Communion Set, which is still in use. Mr. Butler also built the 
present Rectory, but never lived in it, as he was called to St. Mary's, Balti- 
more, which he accepted. The beautifying of the Rectory Grounds is due 
entirely to Mr. Butler's ability. Mr. Butler built with his own hands the 
reredos in the Church, and constructed the Lych-gate, after the English pat- 
tern, at the entrance of the Church Yard. All of the stained-glass windows 
were put in during his rectorate. — Rev. W. J. Williams. 

t"The old Vestry House was removed within the memory of some now 
living in this Parish ; and this piece of heart-pine, which I hold up before 
you, is part of the original weather-boarding put in place one hundred and 
seventy -three years ago." — Sermon of 1S78. 



ST. BARNABAS CHURCH. 7 

It seems from this entry, and from others made about this time, 
that a frame Church, called " St. Barnabas," stood on these prem- 
ises at the time of the separation of this Parish from " vSt. Paul's." 
This served as a Chapel to " vSt. Paul's," but had now become 
the Parish Church of "Queen Anne"; to remain so, however, 
but a few months, then to ,^ive place to St. Barnabas Church, the 
second, the details of the construction of this second Church 
being on record under date of Tuesdaj', August 13th, 1706, as 
follows : " The same day came Thomas Hopton, bricklayer, with 
whom the Vestry made agreement that he should build a Church 
Fifty Feet long and Twenty-Five Feet wide, the wall Twelve 
Feet high, three bricks thick from foundation to water table, the 
balance two and a half bricks thick, to put in Two Doors and 
Five Windows and to lay the floor with tiles, he to burn the bricks 
himself, and bring the shells and burn them [for lime] ; and to 
finish all substaucially and workmanlike by the last of September 
1707. F'or which he is to receive One Hundred and Twenty 
Pounds Sterling." 

Agreement was at the same time made with Joseph Knight, 
carpenter, to put a roof of girt work upon the brickwork above 
mentioned, to make five arched transom windows and two large 
folding doors, etc., for which he is to have Eighty Pounds Ster- 
ling. Mr. Thomas Plummer contracted to furnish the lumber 
from which the woodwork was made. On the 2 2d of March of 
the next year, 1707, the bricklayer prayed for a longer time to 
finish his work, and the time was consequently extended until the 
last of June, 1708. 

It has been supposed by many that the brick of which all these 
old Colonial Churches were built were brought from England. 
This may have been the case with some of them. vShips coming 
from England with comparatively small cargoes brought brick 
for ballast, and returning with full cargoes of tobacco the brick 
were sold in the Colony for building purposes. But it is dis- 
tinctly stated that the brick for the Church of which we now 
speak, i. <?. , the first brick Church, that in which we stand today 
being the second brick Church, were burned on these premises 
by the contractor. It is probable that the present building was 
made partly of the brick of the former Church and in part of 
brick brought from iCngland. 

On Easter Monday, April 5th, 1708, the Record reads: "This 



8 ST. HARNAHAS CHURCH. 

day the foundation of the new Parish Church was laid, in the 
presence of the Vestry and other Inhabitants of the Parish." 
And on March 8th, 1709, a copy is made of a subscription list of 
money and of tobacco, the list being headed with the following 
statement : 

" We the underwritten inhabitants of Queen Anne Parish in 
Maryland, being desirous of promoting (so far as in us lies), the 
honour of God and the solemnity and decency of His worship, by 
building a convenient and handsome Church in this Parish, do 
hereby willingly and freely offer and give towards the said laud- 
able and pious design, each of us, the several and respective 
amounts of money or tobacco, hereunder subscribed." 

The amount in money was ^57 5s. Sterling, and together with 
what was afterward subscribed, about 16,000 pounds of tobacco. 
This was, of course, a free-will offering independent of the amount 
levied upon the Parish by the Government for the erection of the 
Church. Among the subscribers were ' ' His Excellency John 
Seymour, Esq.," Governor of the Province, and Col. Henry 
Ridgley. 

In the building of the Church mention is made of special and 
separate contracts for other items ; so also for erecting a pulpit 
with sounding board and stairs and a reading desk and clerk's 
desk, for which 3,000 pounds of tobacco were to be paid. 

The pulpit, in accordance with the arrangement usual at that 
day, was built high up on the north side-wall of the Church, and 
was reached by a flight of steps ; while the Altar, enclosed within 
its rails, stood special and alone at the east end of the Church, 
and by this arrangement was visibly set forth the distinction be- 
tween the place of instruction and the place of worship. At the 
one, man received Divine teaching ; at the other, priest and 
people received the grace of the Holy Sacrament and offered 
homage to the Divine Majesty. 

The clergy in charge — 1705 to 17 17 — were the Rev. Robert 
Owen and the Rev. Jonathan White. The work of the latter 
extended to the year 17 17, when on the 21st day of March, the 
Rev. Jacob Henderson, who was .sent as " Commissary of the 
Churches in the Province of Maryland" and recommended by 
the Bishop of London who was also Diocesan, of the Province of 
Maryland, was duly appointed Rector of Queen Anne Parish, 
and the Vestry was directed by Governor Hart of the Province 
to receive him as such. 



ST. I5ARNA15AS CHURCH. 9 

The year following, /. c, 17 18, the Vestry placed in the hands 
of the Rev. Mr. Henderson ^50 i8s. 6d., with the request that 
he would send to England, which is frequently spoken of in the 
Record as "home" (so strong was the hold upon the affection 
of her scattered children by that grand old land with its grand 
old historic Church), to procure "the following particulars, to 
be shipped at the Risque of the Parish, and to give orders that 
the same be insured to Maryland ;" 

"A Velvet Pulpit Cloth, fringed with (xold. 

" A Cushion of Velvet, with Gold Tassels. 

" A Velvet Cloth for the Altar. 

"A Marble Font. 

" A Linen Surplice and Communion Linen." 

I find, accordingly, in the Treasurer's Account the following 
entry : 

" May ro, 17 19. To Goods by the ship " Booth." 

£ s. d. 

"To a Pulpit Cloth and Cushion, . 20 8 3 [about f>ioo.] 

" To Altar Linen and Surplice, .69 [ " 32.] 

" To Fine Purple Velvet Altar Cloth, 3 3 [ " 16.] 
"To a Velvet Altar Cloth, with the 

Glory 16 15 [ " 80.] 

" To Embroidery. .... 4 [ " 20.] 

"To Marble Font, . . . 11 14 [ • 57.] 

[Total] [ •• 305.] 

Such was the loving care of these, our forefathers, that God's 
Holy places should be provided and beautified with the best ap- 
pointments that they could bring from the Fatherland. 

Yonder Marble Font at which so man}' of the living, and so 
many more of the dead, have received the Sacrament of sonship 
— that, with the solid silver Altar Vessels, alone remains, in its 
massive strength, of all the articles of use and of beauty brought 
across the ocean by the good ship " Booth" in the year of Our 
Lord 1719, for St. Barnabas Church. For exactly one hundred 
and eighty-eight years it has stood here, and within the walls that 
preceded these, pleading silently, yet eloquently and ceaselessly, 
the obvious and beautiful truth that under the roof-tree of God's 
House, and not elsewhere, except in case of overwhelming neces- 
sity, should the Father's children be born into the Father's family. 



lO ST. BARNABAS CHURCH. 

Know ye, this daj^ O God's people I that it is your duty to fight 
against the bad habit that has become so prevalent, in causing 
your children to be baptized at 3'our houses instead of in God's 
House ; that you must take trouble, yea, much trouble if need 
be, to bring your children here to receive the blessing and honor 
of adoption ; that here, and not elsewhere, as a rule, is the fitting 
and appointed place for Baptisms, and for Burials, for Marriage 
Services and for all other Holy Offices. And the Prayer Book 
recognizes this fitness when it tells us that ' ' the people are to be 
often admonished that it is most convenient that Baptism should 
not be administered but upon Sundays and other Holy Days, and, 
unless upon great necessity, that they procure not their children 
to be baptized at home in their own houses." 

In the month of July, 17 18, we find the beginning of a fund 
for the purchase of Silver Vessels for the Holy Communion ; the 
first amount of £2 los. Sterling, about $12.50, is given by Basil 
Warren (Waring). Other sums are offered from time to time, 
the total amount given and sent to England for the Communion 
Silver — the same that stands on the Altar before our e3^es today 
— was ^47 135., about JS235.00. The modern cheaper methods 
of manufacture were then unknown. Each vessel is made of a 
solid plate of silver, not molten or rolled into shape, but hand- 
hammered into form, and called technically "beaten silver." 
There are four pieces : the Chalice and the small Paten, from 
which the people are communicated ; and the Flagon and the 
larger Plate, for bread and wine, when a large number of com- 
municants are to receive. The words and date engraven on each 
vessel are: "St. Barnabas Church In Merreland : 1718." I 
cannot account for the misspelling unless it be that it was an 
error of some very ignorant engraver who did that part of the 
work, and the in.scription was so deeply cut into the body of the 
silver that it could not be effaced and rectified ; and therefore the 
vessels were taken with the misspelling. 

The value and interest of these sacred vessels are greatly en- 
hanced, in my esteem, from their association with the holiest 
hopes, the deepest penitence, the highest inspiration, and the 
most loving and devout worship of men and women and children 
of so many generations. May they yet serve, for centuries to 
come, to convey to the lips and to the hearts of God's children 



ST. BARNABAS CHURCH. II 

the Broken Body and the Shed Blood "to their great and end- 
less comfort." 

The first mention of "The Chapel," now " Holy Trinity" at 
Collington, the Parish Church of that highly esteemed and 
learned brother, the late Rev. Dr. Harvey Stanley, occurs in the 
year 17 19. 

This Chapel to St. Barnabas was built by the Rev. Mr. Hen- 
derson and his wife, as is stated on the Record, and in a commu- 
nication April 26, 1737, "To His Excellency the Governor, and 
to the Honourable the Upper and lyower Houses of Assembly, the 
Rev. Jacob Henderson offers to make a present of the Chapel 
(with two hundred acres of very good land on which it stands), 
to the Parish for a Glebe forever." The consummation of this 
most liberal offer was barred, so far as the extent of the land 
was concerned, by the restrictiv^e and jealous legislation which 
prescribed that the Lord shall have only so much of His own 
earth for His own honor, and that an exceedingly small moiety. 

The Rectorship of this faithful and laborious man of God ex- 
tended from 17 1 7 to 1 75 1, a period of 34 years.* And today he 
lies beneath the sod which he gave to the Church, with not the 
simplest stone or name to mark his resting place. f 

An item of considerable interest in the history of the first 
" Brick Church," (a term which is used for the first and indeed 
the only time in the Record in an entry in the year 1734, and 
doubtless then began to be commonly employed to distinguish it 
from "Henderson's Chapel," which was a frame building), is 
the preparation of a painting, by Gustavius Hesselius, of our 

*He married a wealthy lady and lived at Bel-Air, afterwards the home of 
Gov. Ogle, and now the property of Mr. Woodward of New York. Rev. 
Mr. Brogden, who succeeded him, lived at Roe-down in Anne Arundel 
County. Rev. Mr. Boucher lived at " Magruder Lodge." Mr. Henderson 
built at his own cost " Henderson's Chapel," now Holy Trinity, CoUington; 
but there was no Rectory in the Parish until after the Revolution. — Mrs. 
"W. C. Butter. 

fl purpose that this congregation lay upon the Altar today an oflFering 
■wherewith to place, in one of the windows of this Church, a memorial to 
the Rev. Jacob Henderson, to whom we and ours, and God's Church, owe 
so much, in his patient, wise, liberal and solid labor in laying the founda- 
tions of this Parish. — Sermon of iSjS. The offering was made and the win- 
dow placed. 



12 ST. BARNABAS CHURCH. 

Lord and the Apostles at the Last Supper. The entry noting the 
contract is under date of September 5th, 1721, and read»s : 

" The \'estry agrees with Mr. Gustavius HesseHus to paint the 
History of our Blessed Savior and the twelve Apostles at the 
Last Supper and the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament of His 
Body and Blood — the Painting to be proportionable to the Space 
over the Altar Piece — to find the Canvas and all other necessa- 
ries for the same, — (the frame and the gold leaf excepted, which 
Mr. Henderson engages to procure and to bestow on the Church, 
as well as to hav^e the Painting put in its place over the Altar at 
his own Cost)." 

An entry in the Treasurer's Account the following year men- 
tions the receipt of the picture and the payment to Mr. Hes-selius 
of ^17 Sterling, for his work on the completed painting. 

The question forces itself upon our notice, what could possibly 
have become of this painting? How could an object of such in- 
terest and historical value to the Parish, standing conspicuously 
and constantly before the eyes of the entire people, have, at last, 
utterly disappeared from the knowledge of the Parish, without 
one note to mark the mode of its disappearance ? It were very 
much to be desired that some light could be thrown upon this 
point.* 



*In the present church of 1772 there is no provision made for the placing 
of a picture above the Altar, this space being filled by a window. It may 
have been that the rector and the vestry sold the picture to augment the 
Church funds ; or, as seems probable, it may have been kept at the rector's 
house for safety, and in the confusion of the times may have been sold as 
part of the confiscated property of the Tory rector, the Rev. Mr. Boucher. 
At all events, from that time all trace of the painting is lost ; and no one 
in the Parish was even aware that it had ever existed until the Rev. Wm. C. 
Butler found the entries concerning it in the old Records thirty years ago 
(1877), when rector of Queen Anne's.— Mrs. Wm. C. ButlER. 

It is strange, yet an interesting fact, that little is known of the missing 
picture since Revolutionary times. For some unknown reason no interest 
was ever taken to recover it. There are different stories about it, and al- 
though the statement that it was sold or confiscated is very plausible, the 
present rector does not consider it the real one. He thinks it was taken 
away because no place was provided for it in the present building, and was 
kept by some one of the rectors, and during the long hiatus in the Parish 
was taken away or sold without the consent of the vestry, thus eventually 
getting into the hands of the present owners or holders. He believed and said 
that the picture was still in existence and would be found. He now claims he 
has found it in a certain house not many miles from the City of Washington, 



ST. RARXAKAS CHURCH. I3 

111 the list of " Marriages" the following is noteworthy : "The 
Honourable Charles Calvert, Ksq., Governour of Maryland, was 
married to Rebecca Gerrard (daughter of John Gerrard, late of 
Prince George's County, deceased, and Kliza his wife), per the 
Revd. Jacob Henderson, Rector of St. Barnabas Church in Queen 
Anne Parish, November 21st, 1722." And, as illu.strating the su- 
perior postal advantages which we enjoy today, the following en- 
try in the Treasurer's account, is not without interest: "By a 
journey down to Nottingham to carry a letter to Richard Lee, 
Ksq., Ten vShillings" (about $2.50"). 

The movement towards building the present Church (erected 
about thirty feet north of the site of the former), which, with its 
increased capacity, was needed by reason of insufficient room in 
the former to accommodate the parishioners, culminated in carry- 
ing out a contract, in 1772, with Christopher Lowndes, "to 
make, erect, build, and set up a new Brick Church, near the 
place where the old Brick Church in said Parish now stands, to 
contain sixty feet in length, and forty-six feet in width" — (the 
other specifications and details of brick and woodwork being duly 
mentioned) — " to be completed on or before the last day of Au- 
gu.st, A. D. 1774. In consideration of which, said building to be 
done and finished in manner and form aforesaid, the said Christo- 
pher Lowndes shall be paid the sum of ^^312 los., and on or 
before the 20th day of August, A. D. 1773, /312 los. more, and 
also the further sum of /312 los. on or before the last day of 
August in the year of Our Lord 1774" — in all about $4,700. 

The clergy in charge from the date of the death of the Rev. 
Mr. Henderson to the erection of the present Church in 1772, 
w'ere the Rev. William Brogden, the Rev. John Forljes, the Rev. 
PMward Gant, and the Rev. Jonathan Boucher, the latter having 
been the last before the Revolution.* 

in this State, having been purchased at an auction sale in Georgetown, D. 
C, over fifty years ago. It corresponds exactly with the description given 
in the old Records, and it is hoped by the kindness of the present owners to 
have it restored to its original home in St. Barnabas Chuich, for which it 
was especially ordered and painted. — Rkv. W. J. Williams. 

* Rev. Jonathan Boucher was a notable person. He was a friend of \Va.sh- 
ington, and when Rector of St. Anne's, .Annapolis, was tutor to John Parke 
Custis, the son of Mrs. Washington. He was a loyal Englishman and a 
Tory. An account of him and his difficulties with his revolutionary Parish- 
ioners is an exciting event in the annals of the Parish. In 1775 he sailed 



14 ST. BARNABAS CHURCH. 

Among the names prominent among the Laity, dnring this 
whole period of 1705 to 1772, are such as Duvall, Tyler, Odell, 
Gittings, Ridgley, Pottinger, Gerrard, Mills, Cook, King, Cheney, 
Peach, Waring, Gant, Bell, Hyatt, Lee, Bloggett, Grimes, Sprigg, 
Harding, Wootton, Lamar, Brown, Carrick, Duval, Brashear, 
Hall, Duckett, Boyd, Berry, Hodges, Bowie, Brogden, Coutee, 
Clark, Brooke, Magruder, Hillary and scores of others, the de- 
scendants of most of them still faithful in their allegiance to the 
principles of the true Catholic faith as transmitted through the 
Church of England ; some wanderers to the right hand, some to 
the left. I would they were all back home again ; they cannot 
afford to do without the Church, nor can the Church afford to 
lose their faithful service. 

In connection with this brief review of the period of the history 
of this Parish, as set forth in its old Records from 1705 up to the 
Revolution,* we, today, men and brethren, may learn two grand 
lessons : 

First, to make it part and parcel of our life work, of our daily 
work, to manage and control and plan that we may ever have 
somewhat to offer, be it land or money or crop, with ready hand 
and loving heart, to further the interests of Christ's Holy Cath- 

from Annapolis in the last ship which was permitted to sail from that port to 
England before hostilities began. His property in America was confiscated. 
He married Miss Eleanor Addison, of Annapolis.— Mrs. Wm. C. Butler. 

* There is a long hiatus in the Parish Records during and after the Revo- 
lution. In the Spring of 1793, the Maryland Convention met in Easton, 
Talbot County, and was presided over by Bishop Claggett, who had been 
consecrated in New York six months previously. During the Convention 
Bishop Claggett ordained the Rev. Walter Dulany Addison as Deacon of the 
Church. His was the first ordination by the first Bishop of Maryland. Mr. 
Addison then took charge of Queen Anne's Parish. In an account of his 
life by his granddaughter, Elizabeth Hesselius Murray, he describes the 
Parish as inhabited by rich planters and others widely scattered. Mr. 
Addison served "Henderson's Chapel" and "St. Barnabas" for two years 
with acceptability, but finding his labors, on account of the great distances' 
too arduous, he resigned the rectorship, though he often visited and preached 
in the Parish afterwards. 

In a sketch of St. Thomas' Church, Baltimore County, by Rev. Ethan 
Allen, he states that Rev. Joseph Jackson, one of the rectors of that Church, 
was rector of Queen Anne's Parish in 1795. The Rev. Clement Brooke also 
served, but the length and date of his incumbency are not known. The 
Rev. Stephen Tyng, Sr., took charge in 1823.— Mrs. Wm. C. Butler. 



ST. HARXAliAS CHURCH. I5 

olic Church, to broaden its foundation.s, to strengthen its walls, 
and to make bright and beautiful all its Holy things and places; 
and. 

Secondly, never forget that "your labor shall not be in vain 
in the Lord." Your work for a whole year on your farm may 
be a failure — may be swept away in a week or in a day. Our 
most thoroughly-perfected and most earnestly-guarded purposes 
for personal advancement may be utterly thwarted in a single 
hour. The most carefully laid scheme of statesmanship, by 
which a throne is propped or a State is buttressed, may become 
a thing of air in one moment of popular storm and be dissipated 
into nothingness. The most gigantic financial interest, with its 
foundations most shrewdly- cemented in millions of gold, may 
and does sink in a single night, and the next morning's sun 
shines upon the place that knew it yesterday, but shall know it 
no more forever. But every dollar, every acre, every wall, every 
roof, every tower, every memorial window, and every sweet- 
toned memorial bell, every altar-cloth and sacred vessel, and 
every beautiful flower laid by children on cross and on font, — 
and above all else, every beautiful bloom of gentle or noble 
deed, or kindly word, or loving wish, or fervent prayer, or kindh' 
praise done for Christ or the Church's sake, "which is His 
Body," shall be transmuted by the very giving of it in such 
spirit, into a wealth that shall grow and enlarge forever, and its 
benefaction extend from generation to generation. 

Where are, today, the acres and the names of John Duvall and 
Mary, his wife? Perished and gone utterly from man's knowl- 
edge, except in connection with their oflFering to God of the 
ground on which this Church stands. Amid all the shifting cur- 
rents of the world's w^ork, that alone which we do for God's 
Church abides. And this, because He, who receives every such 
gift, our Divine Lord with the Father and the Holy Ghost, loves 
and blesses and defends, amidst all the changes and chances of 
this mortal life, both the giver and the gift. 

This month is also one of anniversaries to me. Fifty years 
ago, in June, 1857, I was ordained to the Diaconate by Bishop 
Meade, of Virginia. Thirty years ago, in June, 1877, I took 
charge of this Parish. A generation has passed away. Many of 
those who filled these pews then have gone to their reward ; but 
thanks be to God, among all these changes and chances, our God 



1 6 ST. BARNABAS CHURCH, 

and His Church are the "same yesterday, today and forever. "^ 
The Church has the same words for the babe at yonder old font 
— the same blessing for her children who kneel at this rail 
for confirmation — the same comfort and renewed life for those 
who partake of the Blessed Sacrament at this altar — and the same 
holy benediction for those who have departed this life in her com- 
munion. Many changes for good and for evil have I seen in our 
land ; but over them all the Lord reigneth. He sitteth between 
the Cherubim, be the people never so unquiet, and the voice of 
his Holy Word ever proclaims, " Lo, I am with you alway, even 
unto the end of the world." 

Laus Deo. 



Bibliography. 

Vestry Proceedings, Queen Anne's Parish, Prince George's County, Md., 
1705-1773. Diocesan Ijibrary, Baltimore, Md. 

An historical sermon in connection with St. Barnabas Church, (Jueen 
Anne's Parish, Prince George's County, Md. By the rector, the Rev. Wil- 
liam C. Butler, second Sunday after Trinity, 1878. Baltimore, 1878. 

An old Maryland Parish, by Mrs. Frances M. Butler. In "The Church 
Militant," Washington, D. C, March, 1899, pp. 40-43- Ihus. 

One hundred years ago ; or, the life and times of the Rev. Walter Dulany 
Addison, 1769- 1848. By Elizabeth Hesselius Murray. Philadelphia : Geo. 
W. Jacobs & Co., 1895. 

Bacon's Laws of Maryland, Annapolis, 1765. 

" The Churchman," New York, June 22, 1907, p. 934. 

"Washington Post," June 12, 1907. 

" Washington Times," June 11, 1907. 

"Washington Herald," June 12, 1907. 

" Baltimore Sun," June 12 and 21, 1907. 



ST. BARNABAS CHURCH. IJ 



The following is a list of clergymen who ministered as Rectors 
of St. Barnabas since the year 1S57. with dates of incumbency 
and present addresses : 

Rev. John W. Ciiksley, St. Michael's, Md., 

April I, 1857, to April 30, 1870. 

=^Rev. H. a. Skinner, 1870 to 1872. 

fREV. Thos. Farmar Bili.opp, 1873 to 1876. 

Rev. Wm. C. Butlkr, Baltimore, Md., 

June, 1877, to August, 1889. 
Rev. Francis Burneli. Randall, Defl Rapids, S. Dak., 

September, 1890, to June, 1894. 
Rev. Wm. R. Barker Turner, Leonardtown, Md., 

December, 1894, to September, 1901. 
Rev. Chas. J. WiNGATE, Washington, D. C, 

Nov. 15, 1903, to May 1906. 
Rev. Wm. J. Williainis, present Rector, since January i, 1907. 



The present \'estry consists of the following gentlemen 

]\'ardi'ns : UpTON BroOKE, 

Julian Hall. 
Treasurer: GEORGE W. Brooke. 
A'txish-r : W. Seton BelT, 

Lee C.-vrrick, 
William Berrv, 
Charles M. Berrv, 
William Roberts. 

* Died in Wisconsin about 1S91. 

t Died Sept. 5, 1876, near Leeland, Md. 



l8 ST. BARNABAS CHURCH. 



ITS TWO-HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY. 



Establishment of Old St. Barnabas Church is 
Celebrated. 

special to the Baltimore Sun. 

Xeeland, Md., June ii, — The two-hundredth anniversary of 
the establishment of St. Barnabas Church, Queen Anne's Parish, 
was celebrated here today with appropriate exercises. Thirty 
members of the choir of St. Andrew's Church, Washington, 
gave a beautiful choral service. 

A history of the old church was read by Rev. W. C. Butler, 
of Baltimore, former rector of St. Barnabas. Rev. George Car- 
ter, rector of St. Andrew's Church, Washington, read a letter 
from Bishop Satterlee regretting his inability to be present and 
extending congratulations upon the auspicious occasion. Rev. 
F. E. McManus, of Trinity Church, Upper Marlboro, spoke of 
the church in Southern Maryland today, and an address was 
made by Rev. W. J. Williams, rector of St. Barnabas, upon the 
present needs of the church. 

After the ceremonj^, a luncheon was served by the ladies of 
the Parish, the arrangements being in charge of a committee 
headed by Miss Mildred Carter of Goodwood, near Leeland, 
Prince George's County. 

Queen Anne's Parish is one of the oldest in Maryland, having 
been established in the year 1704. — " Baltimore Sun," June 12, 
1907. 



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